Saturday, March 31, 2018

IRAN: Dervish Minority on Hunger Strike - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 30, 2018.
Eight detainees from Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish minority began a hunger strike on 27 March in protest against the torture and other ill-treatment to which they say they are subjected. 

One of the men, Abbas Dehghan, has allegedly been threatened with his wife being raped in front of him if he does not “confess”. The men require medical care for injuries sustained at the time of their arrest on 19 February.

Please take action before May 10, 2018.

Posted by at

IRAN: Eleven Women Arrested - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 29, 2018.

 At least 11 women from Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority have been arbitrarily detained in inhumane conditions, without access to their lawyers, since 20 February following the violent dispersal of a protest held by Gonabadi Derivshes in Tehran. Some urgently need medical care for injuries sustained from beatings at the time of their arrest.

Please Take ACTION before May 10, 2018.

Posted by at

Thursday, March 29, 2018

ISRAEL: Asylum Seekers Risk Deportation - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 28, 2018.

 Thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers are at risk of either being forced to go to Rwanda or Uganda, where their protection is not guaranteed, or being indefinitely detained in Israel. While some are already detained, the Israeli authorities have given others until early April to leave the country or be detained.

Please Take Action Before May 9, 2018
Posted by at

EGYPT: Two At Risk for Execution - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 28, 2018.
On 26 March, the Supreme Military Court of Appeals upheld the death sentences of two men, Ahmed Amin Ghazali and Abdul Basir Abdul Rauf. The two men are at imminent risk of execution unless President Abdelfatah al-Sisi decides within 14 days of the sentence date to pardon or mitigate the sentence.


Please Take Action Before May 9, 2018.
Posted by at

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

KAZAKHSTAN: Woman Detained for Using Social Media - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 27, 2018.

 Since 13 March, bloggers, activists and members of the public across the country have been summoned and warned by the police that they could be prosecuted for supporting the Democratic Choice party on social media. 
On 15 March, Almalinsky district court in Almaty sanctioned the house arrest of 27-year-old graphic designer, Akmaral Tobylova...for allegedly financing an extremist group. 
She told the Kazakhstani International Bureau of Human Rights: “I just read the site and looked at the news. There was nothing forbidden there. I was interested in their programme because they promised good pensions and housing.” Akmaral Tobylova is a prisoner of conscience, detained for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression. According to the Kazakhstani International Bureau of Human Rights, two other anonymous people, who wish to remain anonymous, have also been detained as part of a crackdown against those who appear to show support for the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan party.




Posted by at

Sunday, March 25, 2018

NORTH KOREA: Forcibly Returned Woman No Longer at RISK - GOOD NEWS

Amnesty International, USA, March 25, 2018.

 Koo Jeong-hwa is no longer at imminent risk of being sent to a political prison camp according to her husband who recently received reliable information about her situation.

Koo Jeong-hwa’s son was released twenty days after the transfer, and he is currently staying with his grandmother. 

Amnesty International has been in communication with Koo Jeong-hwa’s husband, who now lives in South Korea, and has asked that information about her whereabouts not be made public for now. He thanked Amnesty International supporters for taking acting action on his family’s behalf, and believed that it was helpful.

Posted by at

USA: Gay Man Faces Deportation - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 25, 2018.
Sadat I., 31, a gay man from Ghana, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since claiming asylum at the US-Mexico border on 17 January 2016; he is now held in Pearsall, Texas. Sadat fled Ghana in November 2015 after being beaten by members of the vigilante group ‘Safety Empire’, which burned down his house and beat his uncle three days later as Sadat was in hiding.

Homosexuality remains a criminal offense in Ghana...
Despite evidence that Sadat would continue to face persecution, imprisonment, and threats to his life if returned there, US authorities have denied his parole and are seeking his deportation…

Sadat’s family sent him a video as evidence of the ongoing threats of persecution he faces, yet ICE removed the video from his package without informing him.

Detention should only be used by immigration officials as a last resort and justified on a case by case basis. Parole should be granted for humanitarian reasons where the person does not pose a threat to public safety and presents no flight risk.







Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)